Voting in prison
The Electoral Amendment Bill passed its third reading in December 2025 and amends the Electoral Act 1993.
The Act reinstates a prisoner voting ban for prisoners sentenced to less than three years for offences committed after the Bill takes effect, which extends the current ban for prisoners sentenced to more than three years. The provisions that relate to prisoner disqualification and enrolment to vote took effect from 20 December 2025.
Prisoners able to enrol to vote must be
- On remand or sentenced to imprisonment for offending that occurred before 20 December 2025 serving a sentence of less than 3 years,
- be 18 years or older,
- be a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident who has lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more.
Prisoners who meet the criteria above, who are 17 years old can enrol to vote, but cannot vote until they have turned 18 years old.
Corrections’ role is to facilitate participation in the voting process. Corrections proactively engages with people in prison and assists them if they would like to enrol.
When a prisoner enrols to vote, the electorate they are enrolled in is based on the address they last resided at for at least one month, reflecting Section 72 of the Electoral Act.
Where a person was without a fixed address prior to being sent to prison, they can use the last physical address where they lived for at least one month. Our staff work with people to help them identify which address they should use. A prisoner can record the prison as their postal address, so they can receive mail from the Electoral Commission.
2026 General Election
Corrections will facilitate voting for eligible prisoners through advance voting for the 2026 General Election. We will work with the Electoral Commission to determine how voting in this year’s election will be managed and facilitated. Prisoner votes are counted as special votes and are counted prior to Election Night.
In the lead up to voting commencing, prison staff speak to people in prison about their eligibility to enrol to vote one-to-one or in small group sessions. We also offer assistance with completing the enrolment application form.
Each enrolment application is individually scanned and emailed to the Electoral Commission.
All prisons have a site liaison who is responsible for the enrolment activities at their site leading up to the advance voting period. Electoral commission staff will also enrol eligible people who wish to vote (and are not yet enrolled) on the advance voting days at each site, before the final date for enrolment.
Enrolling to vote is promoted in prison with the display and provision of Electoral Commission information in all units, including posters, application forms, brochures, and booklets. Information covers enrolment eligibility, why enrolling to vote is important, information on the Māori roll or General roll for people enrolling for the first time, and information on the unpublished roll and application process.
Prisoners also have access to information on television and via existing self-service kiosks.